Would Lebanon, Syria, Israel and Gaza be better offif Israel had no offensive weapons?
Rep. Diana DeGette voted against the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2026. She issued an explanation for her vote on Dec. 10. We cite it in full:
“I have been saying for months that I would not support additional offensive weapon sales to Israel that could be used against innocent Palestinians.
“That’s why I voted against the NDAA today. This bill contains provisions that force the United States to provide further weapons, including offensive weapons, to Netanyahu as our European allies limit their military support. More weapons are the last thing we need in the region. We need a permanent ceasefire, a massive surge of humanitarian aid, and lasting peace for both Israelis and Palestinians.”
If Israel is not to have a steady supply of offensive weapons —
Would Lebanon be better off?
Would Syria be better off?
Would Israel be better off?
Would Gaza itself be better off?
Lebanon
Strictly because of Israel’s offensive weapons, Israel initiated the liberation of Lebanon from the clutches of Hezbollah.
Hezbollah was designated by the US as a terrorist organization in 1997, under President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, like Rep. DeGette.
Hezbollah acted:
• Against the US in Beirut in 1983, when 242 Marines were murdered.
• Mostly against the Lebanese people, Arab and Christian. Until, Israel, due strictly to its offensive weapons, decapitated Hezbollah’s leadership in September, 2024, the Lebanese government did not and could not regain control of its own country. Now, for the first time in decades, Lebanon’s government has almost complete control of southern Lebanon and is working on defanging Hezbollah in the rest of Lebanon.
Questions for Rep. DeGette:
Would Lebanon be better off today if Israel had no offensive weapons and Hezbollah still endangered the Lebanese population — including its Palestinian population?
Would Israel be better off if Hezbollah could still fire at Israeli civilians at will — war crimes — literally every day, as Hezbollah did for more than a year after Oct. 7, 2023?
How can you say that “more weapons are the last thing we need in the region” when it was Israel’s offensive weapons that have brought promise to the Lebanese people for the first time since 1975?
Syria
Strictly because of Israel’s offensive, Israel severely weakened the totalitarian Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, precipitating its demise.
• Israel’s decapitation of Hezbollah in September, 2024 denied Assad Hezbollah’s critical military assistance when Assad’s regime came under attack by Syrian rebels.
• Israel’s attacks on Iran’s air-defense batteries, a UAV factory and missile production facilities on Oct. 26, 2024, denied Assad Iran’s critical military assistance, such that Assad could not defeat Syria’s rebels and had to flee to Russia on Dec. 8, 2024.
Questions for Rep. DeGette:
Would Syria be better off today if Israel had no offensive weapons and Bashar al-Assad — who killed an estimated one million of his own people and sent millions more fleeing into exile since March, 2011 — still ruled Syria?
How can you say that “more weapons are the last thing we need in the region” when it was Israel’s offensive weapons that precipitated hope for the Syrian people for the first time since Bashar’s father Hafez Assad took over Syria in 1971?
Would Syria, Lebanon and Israel be better off today, following Assad’s fall, if Israel did not destroy the huge stockpiles of weapons throughout Syria that ISIS, Hezbollah and Iran used to kill Americans, Syrians, Kurds, Israelis and other innocents?
Israel
Strictly because of Israel’s offensive weapons, Israel could defend itself against Hamas’ atrocities of Oct. 7, 2023 and against Hamas’ huge stockpile of rockets that it fired on Israel civilians — war crimes, all — since 2007.
Questions for Rep. DeGette:
Why does your explanation of your vote against additional offensive weapon sales to Israel not mention Hamas’ invasion of Israel on Oct. 7, Hamas’ murder of young attendees at a music festival, Hamas’ rape of women, Hamas’ burning people alive, Hamas’ kidnapping of 251 hostages, Hamas’ murder of 1,200 people?
With Hamas still in power in half of Gaza, would Israel be better off today if it had no offensive weapons?
Gaza
Strictly because Hamas possessed offensive weapons — supplied by Iran and other bad actors — Hamas could initiate war with Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Strictly because Hamas possessed offensive weapons, it triggered the deaths of thousands of Gazans that Hamas’ ruler in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, called “necessary sacrifices.”
Strictly because Hamas possessed offensive weapons, it fired them on Israel civilians in southern Israel — war crimes, all — from 2007 to 2023.
Questions for Rep. DeGette:
Would Gaza be better off if Yahya Sinwar were still in charge, still thirsting for the next stage of his “forever war” against Israel, still indifferent to his war’s “necessary sacrifices?”
Are those Gazans who backed Hamas when it won a free and fair election in Gaza in 2006 — Hamas with its proudly articulated charter calling for the destruction of Israel — innocents?
Is the lasting peace for both Israelis and Palestinians that you and we fervently desire, to be achieved by leaving Hamas in power — with its public execution of Palestinian opponents — and by denying Israel offensive weapons? Have you heard of former Prime Minister Golda Meir’s statement, to this effect:
If the Arabs laid down their weapons, there would be peace. If Israel laid down its weapons, there would be no more Israel.
Anti-Semitism
Question for Rep. DeGette:
When you vote against offensive weapons for Israel, and in doing so you overlook the fact that Europe’s most powerful country, Germany, has rescinded its ban on weapons for Israel, and you see no need to mention Hamas’ atrocities of Oct. 7 with the clear implication that Israel has no right to defend itself, are you aware that this approach smooths the way to lethal violence against Jews around the world?
© IJN 2026
